Isaac Asimov is known for books such as The Foundation Trilogy, The Stars, Like Dust, and of course, I, Robot. "Asimov is widely considered a master of the science-fiction genre" (Wikipedia). The combination of his futuristic series formed a sort of "future history" (Wikipedia). Asimov
Isaac Asimov
wrote or edited more than 500 books, and around an estimated 90,000 letters in his lifetime. Apart from writing science fiction, Asimov also wrote mystery, fantasy, and nonfiction books. "Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time" (Wikipedia).
About I, Robot: I, Robot is actually a collection of nine science fiction short stories. The stories are told from a narrator's point of view. The narrator is a reporter who is doing an interview with Dr. Susan Calvin. Calvin is a robopsychologist who has worked at U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc. from almost the beginning of robots. The first short story is about a robot named Robbie. This story shows how people were somewhat afraid of robots when they first came to be. The fear was that robots would turn on humans, and end up doing more bad than good. Asimov tries to show the good that robots could do good for humanity, and rid people of the fear of robots.
The second short story focuses on the Three Laws of Robotics. The two main characters, Gregory Powell and Mike Donovan, are on Mercury trying to start up mining again. They send out a robot, known as Speedy, to get selenium, and he doesn't come back. They can't go outside without suits, and even then they can only last so long in the heat. To get Speedy to come back, they have to think over the Three Laws, and figure out how the robot is interpreting them. Asimov uses this story to better explain the Three Laws of Robotics that he created.
Short story number three was the type of thing everyone thinks about when it comes to science fiction stories about robots. Powell and Gregory are this time on a space station that supplies energy to earth via energy beams controlled from the space station. There is a new type of robot that decides the stars, planets, and space are all not real. It thinks humans aren't all that important. The robots name is QT1, also known as Cutie. Cutie said "I myself, exist, because I think-" (Asimov). The robot comes up with it's own religion, and calls himself the prophet. Even through all this, the robot performs it's tasks with perfection, so Powell and Gregory just leave the robot alone and not tinker with it.
In the next story, the fourth, Powell and Gregory are back again with more robot troubles. This time, they're mining on asteroids with the help of robots of course. DV5, nicknamed Dave, is the sort of commanding robot. Powell and Gregory notice that Dave and the rest of the robots have stopped producing ore. They decide to spy on the robot, and notice that whenever there is a problem while mining, Dave organizes the other robots into a line and marches around the mines. After a while they figure out why. Whenever there is a problem, Dave gets overwhelmed. The robots under his command act like his fingers. During the times when Dave is overwhelmed, Powell and Gregory compare his marches to a human "twiddling its thumbs" (Asimov). During production of more robots, a mind reading robot is created on accident.
This is the main factor of the fifth short story. The mind-reading robot is nicknamed Herbie. When the scientists at U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc. are studying Herbie, they ask a lot of questions about what their co-workers are thinking. To avoid hurting people's feelings, Herbie sometimes purposely lies. Everyone finds out that Herbie has lied to them, and they get really angry. The person hurt the most was Dr. Calvin because Herbie told her that the person she has feelings for loves her. When she found out it wasn't true, she wanted to get pay back. She went to Herbie and told him that even through his lying to save people's feelings, he ended up hurting them anyway. Herbie couldn't take it, and had a mental breakdown. Through all this time, the reporter was taking careful notes on what Dr. Susan Calvin told him. He kept her going, telling him more of the history of the robots.
That brings us to short story number six. Scientists are trying to develop a hyper drive, and in order to do this, they have to use a special robot. One of the robots gets on the nerves of a work, and the worker tells it to "go get lost." The robot takes the order literally, and hides along with a shipload of the same type of robot. The problem is, this robot has it's Three Laws adjusted a little bit for the work it is doing, and they don't want it to get out what is going on. Through a lot of tests, and experiments, they find which robot it is. This story is one of the less important in the compilation, but it was still very interesting to read.
The hyper drive is finished in the next short story, and is put into a ship. Powell and Gregory are back in the action. They go on the ship with the hyper drive in it, and the ship takes off without them noticing. The "Brain" as it is called, is controlling the ship. It goes in to hyper drive, and they die, then when it stops they come back to life. This story is focusing again on the Three Laws of Robotics. To understand why The Brain acted as it did, Dr. Calvin had to really dig deep into the Three Laws. There are still two stories left in this sort of series, and they are less about robots and more about the world in general.
In story eight, a man by the name of Stephen Byerly is running for Mayor of New York City. People have been noticing that no one ever sees him sleep, eat, or drink. A man accuses Byerly of being a robot, and then spreads the rumor. Arguments go back and forth, and finally to prove to everyone that he isn't a robot, Byerly hits a man showing he can break the First Law of Robotics. When Dr. Calvin talks to Byerly, she says that if he was a robot, he'd be allowed to hit that man if the man he hit was also a robot. After Calvin finishes telling this story to the reporter, she tells that she was almost positive Byerly truly was a robot.
The final short story, is quite a few years farther in the future. Wars are done in the world, and instead of countries, there are now Regions. Stephen Byerly is the World Coordinator, and has a problem on his hands, or so he thinks. The Machines, which are huge positronic brains that help optimize the world's production and economy, have been having glitches lately. One having a glitch wouldn't be that big of deal, but all of them having glitches at once is surprising. He visits all the people working with the Machines, and finds that nothing is wrong. He talks with Dr. Calvin and they conclude that the Machines are causing a little harm to come to certain people in order to save harm from coming to all of humanity.
That concludes this compilation of nine short stories, that make up the complete story of I, Robot.
Do I recommend I, Robot?
If you like science fiction, this is the book for you. I definitely recommend this book. I, Robot is amazingly written, it contains so much detail to every aspect of the plot line. The nine short stories that make up I, Robot all come together to form a great book. If you've seen the movie I, Robot, the book is only the same as the movie on little aspects. The book is like a time line of major events in robot history. Where the movie is just about robots revolting against humans on Earth. In the book, robots aren't allowed on Earth, only the Machines are. I don't deny that the movie is a great movie to watch, but just keep in mind that it is almost nothing like the book. Asimov really gets in depth of the way robots think according to the Three Laws of Robotics. It's really interesting how Asimov created a whole new type of world, where humans have started to spread out throughout the universe. He came up with everything about the robots, from the positronic brains, to the progression of them getting more intricate. This book, in my mind, was completely worth reading. I recommend everyone with an interest in science fiction to give this book a try.
I, Robot
By: Isaac Asimov
Isaac Asimov is known for books such as The Foundation Trilogy, The Stars, Like Dust, and of course, I, Robot. "Asimov is widely considered a master of the science-fiction genre" (Wikipedia). The combination of his futuristic series formed a sort of "future history" (Wikipedia). Asimov
About I, Robot:
I, Robot is actually a collection of nine science fiction short stories. The stories are told from a narrator's point of view. The narrator is a reporter who is doing an interview with Dr. Susan Calvin. Calvin is a robopsychologist who has worked at U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc. from almost the beginning of robots. The first short story is about a robot named Robbie. This story shows how people were somewhat afraid of robots when they first came to be. The fear was that robots would turn on humans, and end up doing more bad than good. Asimov tries to show the good that robots could do good for humanity, and rid people of the fear of robots.
The second short story focuses on the Three Laws of Robotics. The two main characters, Gregory Powell and Mike Donovan, are on Mercury trying to start up mining again. They send out a robot, known as Speedy, to get selenium, and he doesn't come back. They can't go outside without suits, and even then they can only last so long in the heat. To get Speedy to come back, they have to think over the Three Laws, and figure out how the robot is interpreting them. Asimov uses this story to better explain the Three Laws of Robotics that he created.
Short story number three was the type of thing everyone thinks about when it comes to science fiction stories about robots. Powell and Gregory are this time on a space station that supplies energy to earth via energy beams controlled from the space station. There is a new type of robot that decides the stars, planets, and space are all not real. It thinks humans aren't all that important. The robots name is QT1, also known as Cutie. Cutie said "I myself, exist, because I think-" (Asimov). The robot comes up with it's own religion, and calls himself the prophet. Even through all this, the robot performs it's tasks with perfection, so Powell and Gregory just leave the robot alone and not tinker with it.
In the next story, the fourth, Powell and Gregory are back again with more robot troubles. This time, they're mining on asteroids with the help of robots of course. DV5, nicknamed Dave, is the sort of commanding robot. Powell and Gregory notice that Dave and the rest of the robots have stopped producing ore. They decide to spy on the robot, and notice that whenever there is a problem while mining, Dave organizes the other robots into a line and marches around the mines. After a while they figure out why. Whenever
This is the main factor of the fifth short story. The mind-reading robot is nicknamed Herbie. When the scientists at U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, Inc. are studying Herbie, they ask a lot of questions about what their co-workers are thinking. To avoid hurting people's feelings, Herbie sometimes purposely lies. Everyone finds out that Herbie has lied to them, and they get really angry. The person hurt the most was Dr. Calvin because Herbie told her that the person she has feelings for loves her. When she found out it wasn't true, she wanted to get pay back. She went to Herbie and told him that even through his lying to save people's feelings, he ended up hurting them anyway. Herbie couldn't take it, and had a mental breakdown. Through all this time, the reporter was taking careful notes on what Dr. Susan Calvin told him. He kept her going, telling him more of the history of the robots.
That brings us to short story number six. Scientists are trying to develop a hyper drive, and in order to do this, they have to use a special robot. One of the robots gets on the nerves of a work, and the worker tells it to "go get lost." The robot takes the order literally, and hides along with a shipload of the same type of robot. The problem is, this robot has it's Three Laws adjusted a little bit for the work it is doing, and they don't want it to get out what is going on. Through a lot of tests, and experiments, they find which robot it is. This story is one of the less important in the compilation, but it was still very interesting to read.
The hyper drive is finished in the next short story, and is put into a ship. Powell and Gregory are back in the action. They go on the ship with the hyper drive in it, and the ship takes off without them noticing. The "Brain" as it is called, is controlling the ship. It goes in to hyper drive, and they die, then when it stops they come back to life. This story is focusing again on the Three Laws of Robotics. To understand why The Brain acted as it did, Dr. Calvin had to really dig deep into the Three Laws. There are still two stories left in this sort of series, and they are less about robots and more about the world in general.
In story eight, a man by the name of Stephen Byerly is running for Mayor of New York City. People have been noticing that no one ever sees him sleep, eat, or drink. A man accuses Byerly of being a robot, and then spreads the rumor. Arguments go back and forth, and finally to prove to everyone that he isn't a robot, Byerly hits a man showing he can break the First Law of Robotics. When Dr. Calvin talks to Byerly, she says that if he was a robot, he'd be allowed to hit that man if the man he hit was also a robot. After Calvin finishes telling this story to the reporter, she tells that she was almost positive Byerly truly was a robot.
The final short story, is quite a few years farther in the future. Wars are done in the world, and instead of countries, there are now Regions. Stephen Byerly is the World Coordinator, and has a problem on his hands, or so he thinks. The Machines, which are huge positronic brains that help optimize the world's production and economy, have been having glitches lately. One having a glitch wouldn't be that big of deal, but all of them having glitches at once is surprising. He visits all the people working with the Machines, and finds that nothing is wrong. He talks with Dr. Calvin and they conclude that the Machines are causing a little harm to come to certain people in order to save harm from coming to all of humanity.
That concludes this compilation of nine short stories, that make up the complete story of I, Robot.
Do I recommend I, Robot?
If you like science fiction, this is the book for you. I definitely recommend this book. I, Robot is amazingly written, it contains so much detail to every aspect of the plot line. The nine short stories that make up I, Robot all come together to form a great book. If you've seen the movie I, Robot, the book is only the same as the movie on little aspects. The book is like a time line of major events in robot history. Where the movie is just about robots revolting against humans on Earth. In the book, robots aren't allowed on Earth, only the Machines are. I don't deny that the movie is a great movie to watch, but just keep in mind that it is almost nothing like the book. Asimov really gets in depth of the way robots think according to the Three Laws of Robotics. It's really interesting how Asimov created a whole new type of world, where humans have started to spread out throughout the universe. He came up with everything about the robots, from the positronic brains, to the progression of them getting more intricate. This book, in my mind, was completely worth reading. I recommend everyone with an interest in science fiction to give this book a try.Works Cited:
1. Asimov, Isaac.I, Robot. New York: William Heinemann Inc, 1983.2. "Isaac Asimov." Wikipedia. 27 Jan. 2008. 27 Jan. 2008. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov>.
3. "I, Robot." Wikipedia. 6 Jan. 2008. 27 Jan. 2008. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%2C_Robot>.